Collapsible tube dispensing support



April 7, 1959 L. ROBERTSON COLLAPSIBLE TUBE DISPENSING SUPPORT 2 Sheets-Shed 1 Filed July 9, 1956 INVENTOR [604/ Ease/'50 %Wz%/M ATTORNEYS April 7, 1959 ROBERTSON COLLAPSIBLE TUBE DISPENSING" SUPPORT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 9, 1956 Illll o 5 I 6 8 W INVEIJTOR [to/v aes a nsor fiW/%A%;

ATTORNEY?- United States PatentO "ice This invention relates to a dispensing device and more particularly relates to a holder'and dispenseruforrnaterials of the paste type containedin" tubes. v

A large variety of'ditferent'types of paste type mat'e-- rials are currently marketed in dispensable tubes wherein the material is dispensed by squeezing the tube. Whilethis type of marketing container is economical andhighly'convenient, its use by people of'all ages presents some problems. Thus, unless one carefully dispensesthe material from such a tube by first applying pressure to the rear end thereof and gradually squeezing the-tube the flanges 14 and 16 at the rear endofthe'deviceaudf a clamp-20 is pivotallysecured thereon.

P t d A r. .1 1. 52.

ularly-Figures l through 3, there is1shown a-tube holder and dispensing device generally'indicated at 10 con-;

sisting of a base plate'12 having a pair of upstanding flanges 14 and 16 at the rear end thereof. .A'pivot'pin 18 .is-mounted transversely on the base plate lz throughrj Clamp 20 consists of a curvate top'pla te 22 ha v g: downwardly extending flanges 24 at the sides thereof; and having a rolled over-end 26 at the rear edgejthe'reof f An actuating handle 28 is cut from therolled over e ef; 26 and extends to the rear'to providea means for 'actuatj ing the clamp 20. A spring; not showngprovided; over the pivot pin 18 in. order to bias the'cla'rnp '20 aclosed position, as ShoWn'in' EigureS; 1

The front end of the, holder is bentdownwar'dly It} 30 and a tube seating member 32 extends upwardly from this downwardly bent portion. The tube sea'ting member 32 is provided with a vertically extending elon;

gated aperture 34-to receive the conical frontyend36 of a tube38.

to theiront end thereof, the tube is notcompletely emptied of itscontents and there is a very real probability that the tube will be ruptured or broken prior to' the time that it is emptied. In addition, unless the rforegoing procedure is followed in emptying the-tube acertain amount of wastage will be encountered. Whilea; number of different types of tube holders have been proposed in order to ameliorate this problem,- these .havegenerally been relatively complex and expensive and' have not found'widespread public acceptance. I t

It is, accordingly, the primary. object of the present invention to provide a holder and dispenser for 'tub'e-.. contained materials which is inexpensive and which per mits complete emptying of the contents of the tube. It is another objectof the invention to provide a holder and dispenser of the foregoing type which is extremely simple in nature and which will permit even children to dispense the tube-contained materials in such ajmanner as to completelyexhaust the tube before it is necessary to discard it. I

It is another' object of embodiment thereof pro'videsfor sealing the tube so that' the conventiofial tube' cap may be disposed ofi'upon mounting' the' tube in=theholder. I 1: a 5.". "These and other objects and a'dvantages of thezinven tion will become apparent upon reference tojhe follow-1 ing specification and claimsland appended. drawings wherein: 7 e V J; -Fignr1e*1'i' s a persp ctive view of materialebeingdisp'e'nsedfroma tube mounted in a holder according :to' one embodiment of the invention; 5 f .7

igure 2 is a perspective view of the holder and dispensing device of the iriventioh'with a tube mounted therein prior to clamping the tube into position;

-Figure'3 is 'a' perspective view of a holder and disthe invention 'to"provide a holder and'dispe'ns'e'r of the foregoing type which in .one

The operation, of the holder and dispensingdeyice i s as; follows: The clamp 20 is-depressed by means of handle 28 and the upper end of the tube seating meni ber 32 is bent to the left so as to-permit the insertionfi of a tube 38 into the holder. The tube seating member 32 then springs back into position and release- 6f the) handle 28'permits clamp 20 to assumeaclosed positioii' as shown in Figure 1. The'cap 40 on the tnbe 38-r'e mains in position for closure purposes. M ateri al may be dispensed fromlthe tube 38 by removing thecap and pressing the tube 38 against the base plateylz as;

shown in Figure 1. The material containedin' the tube may be worked from the rear' end-thereof remarr ethe front end of the tube and all'of the material in the tube may be removed by simply squeeiing Ytlie" tube; against the base plate 12, This base plate forms-a -sur-- face against which the tube may; be compressed-so that absolutely all of the material contained in the tube may he -removed. As the tubeis progressively compressed towards the forward end and as the material is removed therefrom, the front end of the tube tends to be lowered.

in the holder. The downwardly bent portion 30 'p'ermit's the conical end 34 ofthe tube to be lforced fdown 'intof therecess created by the bent section as the tubeais emptied of its contents. This permits a more thorough;

" evacuation of the tube withoutbreakage thereof and permits the" last materialcontained in the tube. toibe pressed into the conical end thereof against .'.the tube seating member 32 without removing the tube from the holder 10 The elongated" aperture '34 permits this motion to facilitate complete emptying of the tubai Where a circular hole is provided in "the mounting member 32, it is diflicultto ren'loVe'aJ-ljof "thematerial from" the tube withoutrupturing the tube or removing thei'tube from the holder 'a'nd dispe'nser. Theh'older' may be formed of sheet 'metal or any"s uit'able' 'plast ici,

pensing device of the present inventio'riipriorto mounb material. 7 r t Referring 'to Figure "4 there is shown anotherT'em bodirnent or the invention, comprising a"holder';42"hav t ingabaseplate 44 and having a pocket- 46 at the rear: end thereof. According to this embodiment 'ofthe iii-f vention' the holder is preferably formed"'of"aplas'tic: material and the pocket 46 is preferably elastic in nature so as to permit distention'thereof, as shown at 48;:Jin,

. order to permit insertion of a tube. The forward 'end or the holder is bent downwardly at 50"as in the*'preceding embodiment of the" invention and" is"='provided with atube seating members; extending fr'om the "down weirdly bent portion and having an elongated aper'tufe 54 therein. Operation of this embodiment of the invention is basically the same as that disclosed in connection with Figures 1 through 3.

In dispensing tube-contained materials such as toothpaste wherein the tube is used by a number of people at frequent intervals, such as daily, it is a common experience that certain users seem constitutionally indisposed to replacing the cap. This results in a drying of the material adjacent to the uncovered front end of the tube and is frequently unpleasant to other users of the same tube. According to another embodiment of the invention, my holder and dispenser is provided with a tube-sealing means which is automatically actuated upon squeezing of the tube to dispense the material therefrom and which automatically closes on release of this squeezing pressure. Referring to Figures 5 and 6, there is shown an illustration of a tube holder and dispenser constructed according to this embodiment.

Referring to Figure 5, there is show-n a tube holder and dispenser generally indicated at 56 having a base plate 58, downwardly bent portion 60, and tube seating member 62. The tube seating member 62 is provided with an elongated aperture 64 as in the preceding embodiments of my invention. Pivotally mounted on the outside front surface of the tube seating member 62 is a closure member 66 which consists of a generally circular plate 68having a closure gasket 70 of a resilient material such as foam rubber mounted thereon by a suitable adhesive. The plate 68 i provided with a pair of lugs 72 extending parallelly from the lower edge thereof and these lugs are pivoted to a pair of ears 74 attached to the front surface of the mounting member 62. A pivot pin 76 passes through apertures in ears 74 and in lugs 72 and receives a coil spring 78. One end 80 of the coil spring 78 bears against the outer surface of the plate 68 and the other end 82 bears against the front sur face of the tube seating member 62 to urge the plate 68 and gasket 70 towards and against the outer surface of the tube seating member 62, as shown in Figure 5. Mounted on the under side of the base plate 58 is an actuator plate 84 which may conveniently be provided with undulated finger-grip portions 86 and 88.

The actuator plate 84 is secured to the under side of the base plate 58 by means of sponge rubber pads 90, which may be secured to the base plate and actuator plate by any suitable adhesive. A flexible connector member 92, which may be of any flexible material such as metal or plastic, is secured to the upper edges of the lugs 72 at 94 and is secured at its other end to the forward edge of the actuator plate 84, as by means of a loop 96. While the connector member 92 is pictured in Figures 5 and 6 as being connected to the upper edges of the lugs 72, it will be apparent that it could also be connected to the outer surface of the plate 68 adjacent to the position at which the spring end 80 contacts this plate.

Operation of this embodiment of the invention is similar to that of preceding embodiments except that a closure member is provided. Thus when one grips the holder and tube, as shown in Figure 1, and moves the actuator plate 84 rearwardly against the resilient force provided by ponge rubber pad 90, the connector 92 pulls downwardly on the upper edge of lugs 72 to cause the plate 68 and gasket 70 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction to uncover the spout of a tube held in a holder. Upon release of the squeezing pressure which ejects material from the tube, the spring 78 returns the plate 68 and gasket 70 to its closed position, while the sponge rubber pad 90 returns the actuator plate 84 to its original position. The gasket 70 is preferably of a considerable thickness in relation to the plate 68. preferably being thicker than such plate, so as to provide air-tight closure of a tube mounted in a holder regardless of the position :of the tube spout as the tube is emptied and as the for- 4. ward end of the tube drops lower and closer to the base plate 58.

It will be apparent that the sponge rubber pads could readily be replaced with springs to hold the actuator plate 84 in position.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided a holder and dispenser for tube-contained materials which :is simple in construction, capable of economical manufacture, and capable of use by even small children. Through the use of the holder of this invention it is possible to expel all of the material from the tube without wast-age and without breakage of the tube. According to one embodiment of my invention, a tube-sealing means is provided so that the conventional tube cap may be disposed of in mounting the tube, and so that the tube is automatically sealed upon completion of the discharge of material contained therein.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A dispensing device for dispensing material contained in tubes comprising an elongated base plate, means on one side of said base plate for clamping the rear of a tube at one end of said base plate, a downwardly bent section at the other end of said base plate extending away from the opposite side of said base plate, and a mounting member attached to said bent section and extending upwardly therefrom past the plane of said base plate, said mounting member having an elongated aperture therein with the long axis of said aperture substantially normal to said base plate, a closure plate for a tube pivoted to said mounting member and spring urged into contact therewith, a resilient gasket attached to the mounting member side of said closure plate, and means attached to said opposite side of said base plate for rotating said closure away from said mounting member.

2. A dispensing device for dispensing material contained in tubes comprising an elongated base plate, means on one side of said base plate for clamping the rear end of a tube at one end of said base plate, a downwardly bent section at the other end of said base plate extending away from the opposite side of said base plate, a mounting member attached to said bent section and extending upwardly therefrom past the plane of said base plate, said mounting member having an elongated aperture therein with the long axis of said aperture substantially normal to said base plate, and a closure for a tube mounted in said dispenser comprising a plate pivoted to said mounting member and spring urged into contact therewith, a resilient gasket attached to the mounting member side of said plate, and means attached to said opposite side of said base plate for rotating said closure away from said mounting member, said means attached to the underside of said base plate comprising an actuating plate resiliently attached to said opposite side of said base plate, and a connector member connecting said actuating plate to said plate.

3. A dispensing device as set out in claim 2 wherein- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Revelle Feb. 26, 1935 Campfens July 3, 1945 

